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We’re in Love with Malicious Intent

People want to believe that malice only lives in the heart of the antisocial. The truth is, that whenever two groups exist, malice will find a way into the minds of all. Whether it is heterosexual versus homosexual, transgender against cisgender, or Christian versus Muslim, arbitrary divides will cause hatred to swell within the hearts of anyone. I would be foolish to suggest that the antisocial is a pleasant person, however the very definition of the condition begets an interesting observation. Since the antisocial is opposed to the rights of others, nearly everyone is in their outgroup, and this implies that the antisocial is equal opportunity with their malice. Which would you rather encounter: one who claims to be good and acts otherwise or one that never claimed to be pure to begin with?

Everyone is in love with malice. The very fact that there are people unlike us creates dissonance. It is easy to prey on the outgroup when we believe ourselves to be right and just in our fight for the ingroup. Time and time again we see what the non-antisocial will do with their “free will.” They kill in the name of their gods. They silence those with political beliefs contrary to theirs. They deny “unalienable” rights to those unlike them. No one is free of sin on this front. Once again, it is the antisocial that is paradoxically the purest on this front. The antisocial, especially the psychopath, serves only themselves.

Rather than proclaim ourselves to be free of such biases and ill intent in this age of multiculturalism, we should embrace our own biases. That is, we must be cognizant of and “own” those cognitions that drive our own antisocial behavior. Yes, the antisocial may be more likely to behave badly, but she never claimed to be anything but a sinner to begin with. The neurotypical, on the other hand, must be aware of his own love for hatred, and only by being aware and accepting that it is part of the human condition can he ever seek to be honest, just as it the antisocial is on this front. And, by being honest, maybe – just maybe – the neurotypical can realize that malice lives inside us all, not just the antisocial.